Labour minister, NBS differ over ‘confusing’ employment statistics

THE Ministry of Labour and Employment and the National Bureau of Statistics have differed with each other on social media over the country’s employment statistics.

The friction between the two members of the executive arm of government sparked outrage on social media.

The NBS had in its latest statistics published on its website stated that the unemployment rate as of the end of 2020 rose to 33.3 per cent from 27.1 per cent recorded as of Q2 2020, indicating that about 23,187,389 (23.2 million) Nigerians remain unemployed.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, while receiving the leadership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), had stated there would be a virtual meeting between the Federal Government and the World Bank.

The meeting, according to the ministry on Twitter, is to discuss modalities used by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in gathering data for employment statistics.

Ngige said: “There has been a little confusion there as to the accuracy of data generated by the NBS. The World Bank says the NBS methodology doesn’t conform to the global standard, especially the ILO format of arriving at such Employment Index.”

The Minister, who described the meeting as very important, recalled he had severally queried the employment statistics released by the NBS.

But reacting, the NBS, through its Twitter handle, countered that the World Bank did not dispute its employment statistics data collection as claimed by Ngige.

“The World Bank has denied making any such statement and rather together with the economic advisory committee affirmed its confidence, commendation, support and close working relationship with @nigerianstat. The World Bank can be contacted if in doubt,” the NBS tweeted.